Beswick Floods CONTENTS - Roper Gulf...

Roper Gulf Regional Council PO Box 1321 Katherine NT 0851 Phone: 08 8972 9000 Fax: 08 8971 2607

CONTENTS

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New Councillor Elected... PG 4

Sport & Recreation Training... PG 8

Borroloola gets a new Bakery... PG 9

Stay safe this ANZAC Day... PG 9

Fun Day at Beswick Crèche... PG 10

Rusty Bugles... PG 10

Good-One Daga Project... PG 11

The Never Never Festival... PG 12

Drums are beating... PG 12

Barunga Festival... PG 14

ALGWA Conference... PG 15

Beswick Floods

The kids enjoying the Beswick floods READ MORE ON PAGE 13....

Message from the Mayor

Tony Jack

Earlier this month I was in-vited to present at a forum on Remote Housing which attracted over 150 people from across the Territory. Minister Bess Price also attended and listened carefully to these discus-sions. The forum ex-pressed a lot of frustration with housing and tenancy management, poor hous-ing design, housing stock shortages and on whether we get value for money. There were also calls for Aboriginal communities to take back control of hous-ing as it was managed pri-or to 2008. The forum made a number of recommendations and called for a full review of Remote Housing. I was also nominated as the interim Chair of the new Northern Territory Ab-original Housing Board. These are the first steps of a long process. At the same time there has been wide discussion on Aboriginal homelands and outstations and the re-sponsibility of government to support small remote Aboriginal communities. This was triggered by the Prime Minister’s comments about these communities

being “a lifestyle choice” and “not the taxpayer’s re-sponsibility", and therefore essentially not entitled to public funding. I think this shows a very poor understanding of Ab-original connection to land, the history of disposses-sion and the rights of all Australians to some basic support where they live. This is an immediate is-sue in many very remote WA communities where there is serious concern that the WA government is intending removing ser-vices forcing their closure. This is largely due to a re-duction in Federal Govern-ment funding. This will on-ly increase dispossession and have huge social costs. Aboriginal people should not be refugees in their own land. In the NT there is a com-mitment to outstations and recognition of the im-portance of these to Abo-riginal people. RGRC pro-vides contract services for 22 outstations and we do not expect any changes in these arrangements. There is however concern that this could herald a sig-nificant policy change in

the way government will support outstations in the future. Land and connec-tion to land is critically im-portant to Aboriginal peo-ple and is much more than a lifestyle choice. The rel-atively small overall amount that is spent by government on outstations should be viewed in com-parison to huge budgets for remote development across Northern Australia, often without clear eco-nomic benefit. In March I was also pleased to meet with Sam Bush-Blanasi the Chair of the NLC It was good to reinforce this important relationship between the NLC and Council. On another level we have completed a by-election in the South West Gulf Ward. Congratulation to our new Councillor Elect, Daniel Mulholland and all those involved.

Message from the CEO

March is with us and even though we regard this time of year to still be in our wet season, where have our

rains gone? Seems more like a double build-up happening in our region with the extreme heat going on. This month we were notified about the Indigenous Advancement Strategy funding which we applied for from the Australian Government and, on the whole, the outcomes were mostly good, however the big loss is the Remote School Attendance Strategy program which will close in December 2015. We will go through the process of dealing with this in the coming weeks and months. We are assuming there will be a new provider to deliver this program, however this is unknown to us at this point. I had the first of many meetings to come with the new Chief Executive of the Katherine Town Council, Robert Jennings and together with the Chief Executive of Vic/Daly Regional Council we hope to collaborate closely on several initiatives such as waste management, and library services, for the benefit of our organisations and of course, all constituents in our respective local government areas. Council is now entering its important planning and budget cycle for the new year so we will all be busy bees until the end of July this year. This process enables us to review our annual plans and corresponding budget across all of

our programs and services in Council. The annual plan and budget is planned to be adopted by Council in their meeting in July.

Employees of the Month

Employees of the Month are selected for their dedication and hard work within

Roper Gulf Regional Council.

- February -

Head Quarters: Jo Nicol

Barunga: Max AhFat Beswick: Don Blitner

Borroloola: Arthur Mawson Bulman: Lex McInerney

Eva Valley: Isaac Dai Jilkminggan: Cecilia Lake

Mataranka: Pru Soler Ngukurr: Leonie Lansen

Numbulwar: Jessma Saylor

Congratulations to all the winners!

Welcome to RGRC’s newest employees

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Welcome to our eight new staff members who have joined Roper Gulf Regional Council in the past month;

May Brazil – Numbulwar SASO Wayne Thomas – RJCP Logistics Officer

Tony Wall – Barunga Fencing Officer Owen Daylight and Bianca Collins –

Jilkminggan NP Alister Andrews and Preston Lee –

Barunga NP Brian Beveridgde – RJCP Regional

Manager

Youth Week 2015

Here are some fantastic Youth Week Events happening during the School Hol-idays. · A walk in the Park at Leliyn /Edith Falls

(Sunday 12 April). A great introduction to the adventures of bushwalking. Booking essential with [email protected]

89738865 · The Youth Week Sleep over aims to

raise awareness of homelessness in our communities and should be great fun! Caitlin at the YMCA 897222592

· The Katherine Region Youth Group

Basketball Competition on the 7 April . Get a team together or come as a spectator.

May Brazil and Wayne Thomas

Employee Profile

Lokesh has worked for RGRC in Finance since 2011 and as Finance Manager since 2012. Before he came to Roper Gulf Regional Council he worked for the Mt Isa City Council and public accountants. He has a Masters of Accounting Degree from CQ University and a CPA. As Finance Manager, he is responsible for financial operations of Council including budgeting, analysing and reporting. He ensures information is simplified and easily available to Councillors, Local Authority Members, managers and others in the Council. Lokesh is a good all round cricketer and plays with the Katherine Cows A grade. “In my experience of cricket, you need to be a bit obsessed with the meaning and pattern in numbers and statistics.’ It would seem a natural partnering for a man immersed in numbers and balancing them in his work life. Lokesh was born and grew

up in Dehradun, in Northern India about 250kms from New Delhi. He came to Australia in 2004 to get international qualifications and for the “… better lifestyle of Australia…”. Lokesh has worked for a number of different industries including banana and grape farming. Being a family man, he loves spending time with his family, his wife and his two year old daughter. He claims he is a good cook, self taught while he was at university. Apart from his love for cricket, he is a keen traveler mainly in Asia and Australia. ‘I make it a point to visit a new city every year. It gives me a different perspective of life” he said. When asked what the big challenges are for Local Government, Lokesh nominated the sustainability of Local Government and the communication of financial knowledge to non-finance people. The communications of useful and understandable

financial information is becoming increasingly important and is an area Lokesh sees as a key challenge in his role. What have been his biggest achievements in the last four years? “A clear audit, efficient procedures, more detailed and user friendly reporting” he said without hesitation. He also adds “…building a strong and stable team in Katherine especially where turnover of staff is a key issue’. In ten years he thinks he will still be working in Local Government but nearer the sea. “Local Government is different to private industry but just as challenging”. “I do appreciate the opportunity here at Roper Gulf Regional Council. The Management is supportive, has a good plan and allows for initiative,” he said.

Lokesh Anand - Finance Manager Reports to: Director of Corporate Governance (Greg Arnott)

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE

MONTH

Title: ‘Ngukurr from the air’

Submitted by Jo Nicol:

Local Authority Coordination Officer

Out & About

Top Left: HQ Staff gathered for Vai’s going away, Top Right: RJCP Staff at Ngukurr, Bot-tom Left: Luke MacFarlane, Bottom Right: Sharon Hillen, Vai Walford and Michael Berto

Above: Photos of Berwick's new SDC upgrade (before and after)

Above: Beswick Crèche, Top Right: Mayor Jack and Kristine Mulholland at the Numbulwar Community Meeting Right: Beswick Crèche

Above: Michael Kokinos, Below: Beswick Crèche

“Good organisation is the key to successful programming”

14 Sport and Recreation staff from across the region attending a recent training course at the CDU Rural Campus were told the key to successful programs is sound organisation. The training group was also shown ideas on how to organise with limited equipment and resources and how to improvise for great results. Mary Cunningham Roper Gulf‘s Senior S&R Development Officer emphasised the key message of the training, “When funding and resources are tight it is critical to plan effectively and use all our resources creatively.” As community based Sport and Recreation officers we often have to improvise as we don’t always have the best equipment and facilities … if we get our organisation right we can do as good or better a job than other well resourced programs. It is often the game or just playing that counts, not the facilities or equipment but we still have to organise and plan well” “The highpoint of the training was without a doubt a presentation by Richard Tambling, an NTAFL Development Officer, who gave us training tips and organisational ideas that will work really well in our communities. We also got to do a boat trip up the Nitmiluk Gorge, something many of our participants had never done. As locals we often forget what great

natural sights we have around us.” Mary enthused The training is part of a regular program of professional development for Sport and Recreation Officers organised by Roper Gulf Regional Council. The training combined staff from Roper Gulf and Victoria Daly Regional Councils and was part of Certificate II in Sports and Recreation.

The Green Snaps Nature Photography Competition for 2015 is calling for entries. The theme for 2015 - NT Environment –“Texture” Hint: Close up surface details that stimulate the sense of touch Entries close 8 May 2015. 0408440696

Green Snaps

ALGWA Conference - Barossa Valley, S.A. On Wednesday 25th March a contingent of RGRC Councillors and Staff joined other like minded Women Council representatives from all over Australia at the Aus-tralian Local Government Women's Association Con-ference in the Barossa Val-ley South Australia. The Conference delivered two days of speakers and activities that highlighted some of the issues facing women in Local Govern-ment and indeed the broader Australian commu-nity.

Councillor Lee, Councillor Daylight, Director Sharon Hillen, Grants Coordinator Amanda Haigh and Jo Nic-ol from Governance at-tended representing RGRC. It was chilly weather at 19 degrees most days and the swimmers did not make it out of the suitcase, air cons were firmly set on 28 degrees. The conference hosted lu-minaries that included; Po-litical Journalist Annabel Crabb, Climatologist Dr. Josephine Balson, Renew-

ables man Richard Turner and many others. A wonderfully funny presentation was made by Hungarian Immigrant Villi Milisitis, who at 70+ owns and still runs Villi pies. Af-terwards we all got to sample the great pies which was definitely a highlight.

This year is the centenary of the Anzac campaign and we Aussies have many qualities, like the ANZACs, to be proud of. Looking out for your ma-tes; our strong volunteer culture, sharing in the ad-versity of natural disaster, these are just a few classic Aussie characteristics. The recent campaign, "Would you let your mates drink and drive?" Is a good example of safety and care the Australian way. This campaign tells us that we have a responsibility for our mates when they drink and that we should not let them put them-

selves or others at risk and importantly we would like them to do the same for us. It is not a sanction; it is looking after your mate. We should go straight to our mate and tell him, take his keys and put him in a taxi or whatever is neces-sary. At work it is the same. If we see our fellow worker doing something danger-ous we should warn him in a caring way, encourage him to do the right thing for everyone’s safety. If they continue we have an obligation to report this and not to ignore it or cov-

er it up. Unsafe behaviour puts both the person and others at potential risk. Again it is about a genuine sense of caring for others. Failing to warn a mate when they are at risk be-cause you do not want to interfere in their business is failing a mate. Common-sense is also an-other great Aussie quality. Safety; talk about and act on it. Let’s keep safe and look after our mates. Based on a letter from Paul Lavender

Safety and Care the Australian way

Community Round-up

Plasticine crocodiles, puppets and dancing A cross generational gathering of staff, parents and children at the Beswick/Wugularr Crèche and residents from the nearby Aged Care Centre all joined in a fun workshop that explored the use of puppets, song and dance in daily activi-ties. The use of simple puppets and plasticine models were used to encourage stories and creativity. The workshop, held in mid March was run by Michael Kokinos and Stacey from Blue Sky Therapies in Katherine who use Steiner inspired education methods.

Everybody at the newly opened Crèche joined in and were quickly engaged in the dancing and story telling. The ideas generated during day will be used by staff to enhance the program for children attending the Crèche.

Watch out for the up-coming production in Mataranka of Sumner Locke Elliot’s play “Rusty Bugles” to be preformed ANZAC Day by Mataranka locals . Novelist, play writer and TV script writer, Elliot was born in Sydney and spent six months in Mataranka during World War II. This became the basis for “Rusty Bugles” written in 1948. Rusty Bugles is set in an ordinance camp in the Northern Territory in 1944. The men are neither in nor out of the war. A cross sec-tion of Australian soldiers

they go through boredom, the news of infidelities at home, endless hope for leave all coloured by un-quenchable humour and optimism. It is a compas-sionate story about Aus-tralian soldiers fighting boredom, loss and isola-tion. A controversial play in its time due to its raw lan-guage and content, the play was banned on sever-al occasions. Elliot is best known for his novel “Careful he might hear you.” Elliot left Australia for the US largely to further his

career but also to escape his conservative experi-ences of Australia. He only returned very late in his life. He is unfortunately largely forgotten these days though his works hold merit and reflect ac-curately on Australian cul-ture pre and during World War II. This revival of Rusty Bu-gles comes after an ac-claimed production 20 years ago in Mataranka by local performers some of whom are coming back for a curtain call. Expect it to be raw and funny as can be expected from an energetic group of amateur performers.

Rusty Bugles

Good-one Daga (Lovely Garden) Project at Ngukurr

Community vegetable gardens serve as a model of affordable healthy nutrition in remote communities. The practice and knowledge of gardening was somewhat lacking in Ngukurr community. Good-one Daga offered interested young adults with an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge in horticulture, including the sourcing and growing of Bush Food and Medicine plants. Approximately twenty male youth, were recruited over a 5-week period for the building of two shade houses and self watering garden beds in late May 2014. The seeding and maintenance of a variety of vegetables by the youth followed the building phase. Approximately 12 women, from a range of age groups, joined the project during the latter phase. The first vegetable harvests were recently gathered and sampled. Bush like bush potato, wild onion and herbs for various illnesses were collected by the women from locations away from the community and propagated in a shade

house. Following this, they have undertaken a Certificate II (Horticulture) using the project’s infrastructure. Many important outcomes were achieved by the project. The building work provided disengaged youth with experiential learning of key employment criteria such as punctuality and attendance to work; planning and problem solving; undertaking written or oral instructions; effective teamwork and communication; and, WH&S issues. The building sites were also used as venues for mentoring talks by health professionals and provided the youth with important understandings on mental health and substance abuse. Women were provided with the opportunity to learn and grow vegetables and in this respect, have become role models for the community as well gaining an accredited qualification. The growing of Bush food and medicine plants has also initiated interest in the ethno-botanical culture of the community which has suffered neglect, especially among younger

community members. In addition the project’s infrastructure and activity has sponsored a Bush Plants landscaping project for Ngukurr community which will be undertaken by many of the men and women involved in this project. The project has also become a sustainable venture with its concept and development making it an ongoing venture which has attracted support from other entities such as the Remote Jobs and Communities Program. We thank the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal for funding this project. Submitted by: Peter Stork, Youth Services Coordinator (Ngukurr).

The Never Never Festival

The Drums are beating in Barunga It’s a Hollywood cliché that beating drums are a warning of impending unrest but in Barunga today they are signaling a rising new musical talent amongst Barunga’s school age youth. The drums are just one part of “Barunga Beats”, a skills workshop focusing on electronic music being lead by Barunga School Music Tutor Ben Andrews, in the build up to June’s Barunga Festival (6th, 7th, 8th). Ben, who in another life was a successful record producer with his own label, is supporting a talented group of boys and girls in developing original electronic keyboards synthesizer and drums music. The plan is to run the disco on the Friday night of the Barunga Festival and to do some shows as well. Who knows what talent might bloom. Ben says that he is, ”… focused on the sustainability of the program so that it has a lasting benefit. Last year the kids did the disco at the Festival…it was great event and built a lot of confidence.” “This has been such a positive program and the kids have seized on the

opportunity to develop their own sound and music” he said. Ben who has lived locally with his family for seven years is employed by the Barunga School. The “Barunga beats” has recently also had the luck to have James Mungohig from the well known Darwin band “Sietta” working with the kids. Roper Gulf Regional Council has supported the Music program at the school through a Community Grant for $2700 which enabled them to purchase a good quality electronic drum kit, the source of the… drumming… drumming...drumming.!

After a year off the Never Never Festival is coming back bigger and better on the weekend of the 8-10 May. The festival is planned to include market and food stalls, a disco, the rodeo, art workshops with Leslie Nawirridj and live music

with Tom Curtain. Sunday night will have a screening of the 1980’s classic docu-mentary “Unbroken Spirit”. Oh and what would a Nev-er Never Festival be with-out a mechanical bull and a merry-go- round ? Most events are free how-ever the rodeo is $15 for adults and $10 for children

or family passes for $25. Enquiries to mataranka_ [email protected]

Beswick/ Wugular Floods Heavy rain in the headwa-ters of the Waterhouse River, following ex cyclone Nathan, preceded local-ised flooding that closed of the town of Beswick/Wugalarr for three days in late March. River height rose to 8.7 metres at the bridge on the Central Arnhem Highway closing the Highway to all traffic. The flooding affected the lower part of town along Billabong and Balanda Street and up to the new subdivision. Residents from affected areas were evacuated on Wednesday morning to the Wugularr School or to be with friends and family. Power and water remained available throughout the new subdivision but the Aged Care facility was evacuated to the School as they had no power and sewerage. Council supported the evacuation and managing the evacuation centre. CEO Michael Berto, praised the work of Coun-cil staff and volunteers in managing the evacuation and other preparations. “The people of Wugularr are very resilient and used

to flooding but our thoughts go to them as they deal with this difficult situation. It was really pos-itive to have the Police and Emergency Services work-ers in town throughout the flood period. Council staff and other agencies worked very ef-fectively to minimise the impact of the flooding. I thank them for their con-siderable efforts” Mr Berto said. At the height of the flood-ing a two metre plus croc-odile was sighted in the flooded town centre. This prompted CEO Michael Berto to remind people about the risks of playing in flood waters, “As well as snags and sub-merged objects there is al-so risk of water borne ill-ness from sewerage and the like. The muddy water also flushes out a range of animals like snakes and crocodiles.” Mr Berto warned. “…do not attempt to cross flooded sections of road. Attempting to cross deep and fast moving water put not only the driver and passengers at risk but also the emergency services personnel sent in to the rescue.” Mr Berto added,

Council services reported that after the flood abated the evacuated Aged Care clients were tired but well and had returned to the Aged Care Centre and the town was settling back to normal. There was minimal dam-age but still some clean-up ahead. The Central Arnhem High-way reopened Sunday. A great morale booster was a corroboree held at the Evacuation centre lead by the elder song men and a bbq put on by the Night Patrol team. As for the crocodile, it is still out there, probably feeding well on the big Barras brought out by the run off. Photo courtesy of Mary

Cunningham: ‘the Men’s Shed in Beswick during the flood Friday 27.03.2015’

The countdown is on to the annual Barunga Festival which celebrates 30 years of art and music in 2015 with performances by Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, Sammy Butcher and Neil Murray. “The Barunga Festival is one of the Territory’s top Indigenous cultural, music and sporting events". Chief Minister Adam Giles said. “The festival is held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend from 5 – 7 June. It’s a great opportunity to see and share some top class music, exciting sport and fascinating culture – all of which are so im-portant to life in our com-munities.” The 2015 music program will once again provide an opportunity see some of the best emerging bands and artists from the bush. “The bush band line-up on

Saturday night won’t dis-appoint with Lonely Boys, Mambali Band and Manuel Dhurrkay from Saltwater Band all taking to the stage,” Mr Giles said. “On Sunday night on the Skinnyfish stage the Festi-val will feature legends Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, Sammy Butcher and Neil Murray. It’s an event not to be missed." The Barunga culture pro-gram includes storytelling, weaving workshops, did-geridoo making and spear throwing. The sport pro-gram draws teams from across the Territory to bat-tle it out in football, basket-ball and softball. “This year will also include the inaugural Road Safety Short Film competition. The best films will be

showcased with over $4000 in prize money up for grabs,” Mr Giles said. The Barunga Festival is part of the Government’s FestivalsNT calendar of business, cultural and sporting events. Tickets are on sale now available from moshtix.com.au. Tickets cover the entire three-day festival. Adults are $40, Children (12–17) are $10 and children under 12 are free. Gates open 10am Friday 5 June with final visitors to depart lunchtime Monday 8 June. The FestivalsNT Calendar of events can be found at: http://www.travelnt.com/en/events Media Contact: Danielle Parry 0413 081 801

Top line-up for Barunga Festival in 2015

The Northern Territory Electoral Commission declared Daniel Mulholland as duly elected as the Councillor representing the South West Gulf Ward of the Roper Gulf Regional Council following an election held on the 19 March 2015. Councillor Elect Mulholland will be sworn in at the coming Ordinary Meeting of Council at Barunga on the 30 April.

Mayor Tony Jack congratulated Councillor Elect Mulholland on behalf of the Council and thanked both candidates for nominating. “Having candidates willing to stand for election to represent their communities is the basis of strong local representation. I look forward to working with Councillor Elect Mulholland to promote and strengthen our vibrant community”

South West Gulf Ward By-Election declared

Community Vet Visits - Does your pet need a check-up?

Fresh Bread in Borroloola

A vet will be visiting: Barunga: Monday 30th March - Wednesday 1st April 2015 Borroloola: Monday 13th April - Monday 20th April 2015 Numbulwar: Monday 27th April - Friday 1st May 2015 Bulman and Weemol: Monday 18th May - Thursday 21st May 2015

Above: Fresh bread from the Malandari Bakery

Below: Birthday cake from Borroloola’s new bakery

There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked bread to lift your day and Borroloola locals are fol-lowing their noses to the new town bakery, located in the Shopping Centre. Each day, 6 days a week, the Malandari Bakery pro-duces fresh bread and a wide variety of pastry and cakes. Custom Birthday Cakes are a popular item, and fresh hot donuts start at the end of March… yum! More tantalising products will be on offer as the busi-ness builds. Malandari Bakery, a part-nership with the local Malandari Stores is also working with Gulf Savan-nah NT in supporting RJCP participants gain employment and skilled

training/mentoring. Bakery Manager Ms Som-mer Meadows comes with many years of bakery ownership and business experience. She has a clear goal to train locals to manage their own bakery. The town is excited to see this new business brought to Borroloola. Jo Nicol, Roper Gulf Re-gional Council Local Au-thorities Coordination Of-ficer endorsed the new Bakery. “Local Authority members were excited to try some new catering provided by the new Bakery at their re-cent meeting. It was delicious! The menu included; Roast Chicken, homemade pota-to and coleslaw salads

and served with freshly baked bread rolls. For dessert we were treat-ed to Carrot cake. We will certainly order again!!” Submitted by: Nathan McIvor: Borroloola Council Service Manager

Upcoming Meetings of Council and Local Authorities

RGRC Mayor Tony Jack Phone: 0428 793 132 Email: [email protected] RGRC Deputy Mayor Judy MacFarlane Phone: 0437 918 115 Email: [email protected]

Job Opportunities For current jobs go to www.ropergulf.nt.gov.au or email

[email protected]

Contact Us

Date Time Meeting Location

30 Apr 8:30am Ordinary Meeting of Council Barunga Council Office

5 May 10:00am Jilkminggan Local Authority Meeting Jilkminggan Council Office

5 May 5:30pm Mataranka Local Authority Meeting Mataranka Community Hall

7 May 10:00am Borroloola Local Authority Meeting Borroloola Council Office

12May 10.00am Numbulwar Local Authority Meeting Numbulwar Council Office

All Local Authority and Ordinary Meetings of Council are open to the Public to

attend.

Please Note: Local Authority Meetings are subject to change

Chief Executive Officer Michael Berto Phone: 0427 799 621 Email: [email protected] Roper Gulf Regional Council Reception Phone: (08) 8972 9000 Fax: (08) 8971 2607 Email: [email protected]

Do you have a story to tell or a photograph to share? Roper Gulf Regional Council would like to showcase your stories and photo-graphs from our Region. Residents and RGRC staff are invited to submit their articles and original photos to be considered for an upcoming edition of the RGRC Newsletter, RGRC Facebook Page and/or RGRC Website. Please sub-mit your material to [email protected] or 08 8972 9000

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